This invention relates to devices for use in practicing the sport of golf and, more particularly, to devices for teeing golf balls.
Numerous devices have been proposed for teeing golf balls, for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,054 to Stone discloses a tee mounted in a vertical chamber on a piston, which is attached by a connecting rod to a cam. The tee is moved in a rectilinear fashion upon actuation of the cam by a motor. Problems that arise in the use of this device are, among others, a very complicated structure including a motor mounted below the tee leading to high manufacturing and maintenance costs, no tee height adjustability by the golfer, and no easy and inexpensive replacement of tee if damaged. U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,537 describes a structure including a surface having a sculpted portion for receiving a golf ball. The sculpted portion includes an aperture and disposed directly below the aperture is a tee having a central bore. The tee is mounted on top of a floating piston which is disposed within a chamber. The chamber is continuously pressurized from below the piston and the fluid escapes through the aperture and bore. When a ball is loaded onto the sculpted portion from an above ground track, the ball cuts off the flow of air through the tee, causing the piston and tee to rise. Problems with this structure include no adjustment for tee height, exposing to the elements the above ground track for golf balls and no easy replacement of the tee. U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,401 to Fehrenbach et al. discloses a tee which is driven by a vertical screw shaft powered by an electric motor. This device is also relatively complex and expensive to manufacture and maintain. Additionally, the tee is not easily replaced. U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,081 to Cook, employs a pneumatic teeing system with foot-operated bellows. Problems with the use of this device include a very complicated dual bellows system requiring as with the above devices, a high manufacturing and maintenance cost. In addition, there is the requirement of foot actuation of the bellows which may cause the operator to lose his stance thereby defeating a main purpose for automating the teeing of golf balls.
Various other devices for teeing golf balls have been disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,602,789, 4,676,397, 4,146,232, 4,132,214, 4,832,345, 4,815,744, 4,017,087, 5,052,688, 4,981,299, 4,662,641 and 4,355,811. This list is not intended in any way to be an exhaustive list of the prior art.